Photo: Perdelsky at English Wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Poway top those of 95% of U.S. towns
24% of workers have no commute at all; California has 17%. Poverty touches 5.6% of residents (California 12.0%). Jobs and income earn Poway A−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Poway apart on work
Nearly half of Poway works in San Diego
10,600 working residents, 49%, have their main job in San Diego, 12 miles away across the town line. That’s 4 times as many as work in Poway itself. The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Poway pay over $40,000 a year
76% of the jobs based in Poway pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Poway makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Poway are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Poway residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. The jobs ↓
Poway gains people on a workday
About 59,000 people are in Poway on a workday afternoon, 20% more than the 49,000 who live here: 29,000 come in to work and 19,000 head out. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Poway’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Poway is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #137 of 847 in California. Household income holds Poway’s grade up ($148,359, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Poway could be anywhere from A− to A.
49% of working residents work in San Diego
Where Poway clocks in
49% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Goods, not services: 37% of the jobs in Poway
31,893 jobs are based in Poway.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poway, 2013 → 2023: 24,788 → 31,893. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Poway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Poway by day
On a workday 19,229 residents head out to work, 2,604 work right here, and 29,289 people come in from elsewhere.
About 59,000 people are in Poway on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Poway takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Poway workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 17,495 commuters (the 24% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Poway goes to work
About 19% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Poway
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Poway is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #352 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Poway near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 22,996 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 44% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 7% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.7% of Poway households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Poway’s commuters take a bus or train.
Poway next to U.S. towns of 34,000 to 66,000: 258th of 927 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 256 | San Clemente CA | 62,226 | $140K | 5.8% | 4.6% | 18% | A− |
| 257 | Encinitas CA | 60,736 | $162K | 7.4% | 4.5% | 15% | A− |
| 258 | Poway CA | 49,180 | $148K | 5.6% | 5.2% | 12% | A− |
| 259 | Lawrence Township NJ | 34,165 | $130K | 4.5% | 6.0% | 12% | A− |
| 260 | Romeoville IL | 41,281 | $106K | 5.5% | 5.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 927 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Poway, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 49% of Poway
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to San Diego. Darker towns draw more of Poway’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Poway: questions
What is the median household income in Poway?
$148,359 (±$8,311) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poway?
5.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poway?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Poway work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (49%, 12 mi), Escondido (3%, 10 mi), Los Angeles (3%, 107 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Poway walkable?
Poway is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poway without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 7% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Poway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Poway
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.